Immuno-physiological effects of dietary reishi mushroom powder as a source of beta-glucan on Rohu, Labeo rohita challenged with Aeromonas veronii

Abstract Beta-glucans have immense potential to stimulate immune modulation in fish by being injected intramuscularly, supplemented with feed or immersion routes of administration. We studied how supplementing Labeo rohita ’s diet with reishi mushroom powder containing beta-glucan influenced immunological function. A supplemented diet containing 10% reishi mushroom powder was administered for 120 days. Afterwards, analyses were conducted on different immunological parameters such as antioxidants, respiratory burst, reactive oxygen species (ROS), alternative complement activity, and serum immunoglobulin, which resulted significant increases ( p < 0.05; p < 0.01) for the reishi mushroom-fed immune primed L. rohita . Additionally, analyzing various hematological parameters such as erythrocytes and leukocytes count were assessed to elucidate the immunomodulatory effects, indicating positive effects of dietary reishi…